There are very few regions left in the United States that can boast the ability to sustain many touring artists like Texas and Oklahoma can in the Southwest with their brand of countrified rock and roots/Americana music.  The Josh Abbott Band are but the latest ‘it’ band to come forth from this region but like the Eli Young Band and Cross Canadian Ragweed or the Randy Rogers Band before them, they come fully formed with music that can hit people inside and outside of the region with rock-leaning country music that often feels like it’s more ‘country’ than some of the stuff on mainstream radio these days. 

The band’s latest release, their second long-player, She’s Like Texas features a nice mix of fiddle and guitar-laden tunes like the sweetly romantic title track (now a hit on the Texas Music Charts) and “I Just Wanna Love You.”  Roger Creager and Trent Willmon join the group on the mid-tempo ‘proud to be country’ song titled “End Of A Dirt Road.”   There fun songs like “Road Trippin’ are nicely balanced by the ballads like “Hot Water” and the stunning and heartfelt album ender “Let My Tears Be Still.” 

Even though She’s Like Texas may not get the band into the Nashville mainstream, the band certainly proves their worth as one of Texas’s most promising bands by mixing those ballads with crowd pleasing hits like “All of A Sudden.”